Comparative Study of Chromium(VI) Removal from Simulated Industrial Wastewater with Ion Exchange Resins

Ion exchange process is an alternative technique for removal of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater. The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of different ion exchange resins in removing Cr(VI) from wastewater. The effects of resin types and dosage, initial pH were examined systemically. The results showed that the performance of different resins had obvious difference for the removal of the Cr(VI) ions, in which the type of functional groups of the resin was the main factor. The SEM images indicated that the micro-morphology of resins before and after adsorption of the Cr(VI) presented a little difference. The EDS analysis showed that the adsorbed Cr(VI) was uniformly distributed at the surface of the resins with formation of oxygen-containing groups. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics of Cr(VI) by the different resins are also discussed.